


Preparing To Fly

by taichara



Category: Gundam 00 & Anno Domini Gundam, Gundam 00P
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:35:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8667877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: The Second Generation Gundams aren't quite ready yet; neither is one of their Meisters.  Which means Ruido gets to spend time engineering something that isn't a machine.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kalloway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/gifts).



Maintenance time. That time that every engineer loved and dreaded with equal enthusiasm -- and today Ruido had himself the dubious(?) distinction of company while he grubbed around in Astraea's inner bits. Much as he'd have liked to have a chance to tweak and tune and listen amiably, Krung Thep had itself a new Meister and she needed to get brought up to speed ...

A rattling _clang_ \-- the nerve-rattling reverberation of a dropped multitool clattering across smooth snowy plates to drift to a halt in semi-gravity -- sang out.

"... I'll go get that."

She kicked off of Astraea before Ruido could protest, drifting down after the wayward bit of kit, leaving him to scratch a not _too_ dirty hand through his scarlet thatch of hair and watch her go.

Chall was getting exasperated. It was plain to see in the slowly growing crimp between her eyebrows, for all that she seemed to think she was maintaining her composure (and good on her, Ruido thought, for making the effort); and, he supposed, he could understand their newest recruit's growing frustration. Her own Gundam wasn't ready yet -- Plutone rested silently in support clamps across the bay, Ruido's project next shift -- and even with her Work Loader experience it wasn't like she'd _worked_ on the things much.

_And it's not like a little Loader's much like our big strapping folks, either._

_I can't help but think she's having some second thoughts about all this, but it's too late now ..._

He hid a sigh; Chall was already on her way back up to their workstation. Being the team's engineer as well as a pilot meant he had a few inside lines -- more than a few -- that Chall didn't, and Marlene didn't. One of those was just how carefully the Gundam were matched to their chosen Meisters, and why.

_Is this going to work, I wonder?_

"Ruido ..."

He put on his best game face, smiling amiably.

"That was fast! And I know what you're going to say, so I'm going to beat you to it: yes, you need to know basic diagnostic and repair skills for your mobile suit."

The crimping deepened. Perched on the edge of Astraea's cockpit, tapping the multitool in the palm of one hand, Chall finally looked legitimately disgruntled; but there _was_ an edge of thoughtfulness in there somewhere. So he waited, diagnostic pad in hand, for her to pick up the thread of the conversation (such as it was). 

It took a while before she summoned up the spark to do it, but that was fine.

"... I don't mind -- well, that's not really true, but never mind that! -- it's not that I mind cross-training, if that's what you call this. It's more like ... well ..."

She floundered, flushing a bit, before her eyes flashed with a burst of determination. She looked for all the world like she'd just hit onto one of the Inspirational Moments[tm] in those manga she read; but Ruido wasn't about to point that out. Well, not yet anyway. Instead he gestured with the diagnostic pad for her to continue, outwardly all earnest interest, and she took said gesture at face value. Thankfully.

"... It's more like, I _know_ I'm not going to be a good engineer. I'm not. That's not what I'm here for either, or -- at least I didn't think I was. But no one's _explained_ anything to me, and except for that one test in Astraea --"

\-- her flush deepened; was she still embarrassed by that? really? --

"-- except for that one test, I haven't actually _done_ anything, and now I'm watching you practically due magic in your suit's cockpit and I barely follow any of it and I don't know what I'm expected to be doing anymore."

All that last came out in an acutely flustered rush, and Ruido felt a pang of sympathy. Under his hands, the soft thrumming of Astraea's systems deepened. Well, good enough then. He leaned away from the mess of cockpit controls and exposed internals they'd been staring at for hours to plant what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Chall's shoulder. She jumped; hell, she was tense as cables. Not cool, not cool at all. 

There could've been a couple different reasons for it, of course, but Ruido decided quite deliberately to focus on the most obvious one for the continued comfort of all concerned -- but mostly himself, the truth be told. 

_And whoo boy am I not telling her that I found out, or how I found out. Nope, that's two secrets that work too well together and they're staying that way ..._

"I know. Trust me, I know, and I'm not any happier with it than you are, but there's rules and regs to follow, you follow me? We're all just kind of muddling on through until all four suits're ready, and yeah, sometimes it's slow going. That's why your test run was with Astraea, because he's got the most standardized system out of the four so he's flight-ready first.

"Now, why don't you think on it for a minute or two, and tell me if you can't think of a reason why me showing you all these bits and bobs and readouts and freaky readout warnings might be useful, even if you don't figure out how to do much more than hold all the parts together ...?"

He trailed off leadingly, hoping that either his encouragement (awkward as he suspected it was) would settle her jangled nerves a bit, or she'd get distracted by the question and still settle jangled nerves. 

Whichever one it was, over the next few minutes Chall's nerves must've gotten unjangled one way or the other, because gradually she settled against the rim of the cockpit and half-closed her eyes, face screwed up in concentration -- and when the answer came to mind, she jumped so eagerly she almost slid clean off Astraea. Ruido snaked out a hand to steady her, grinning.

"You look like you had a thought, there --"

"... Yeah."

Well damn, there was the flush again. Not as bad, maybe, but there; but Chall was very nearly smiling also, for all that she was chewing on her lip a bit. 

"Yeah. And, I'm sorry I've been so caught up in getting annoyed that I missed something so _obvious_."

 _Now_ she was leaning over him to stare down at the cockpit console, still chewing her lip thoughtfully.

"I don't need to actually know all the details about mobile suit mechanics, do I. I just need to know enough to -- know what I'm looking at. So I know what's gone wrong, if it goes wrong? So I know what to do when it does and report what I'm seeing."

"So one of us gearmonkeys can get in there and give advice and maybe get things moving on the fly, exactly."

Ruido grinned up at her.

"Or so you can try to jury-rig some ramshackle emergency patch to get yourself back to Krung Thep. That can happen too."

"I guess so."

Straightening up again, Chall twisted around on her perch to gaze out across the hangar, and for a moment Ruido wondered what caught her attention. Sure there were Haros flapping around here and there, fussing around in their little workers, but that wasn't anything new; so, what was it?

"... Ruido?"

"Yeah?"

"Since I'm the one who's newest at this, why am I the one getting the Plutone?"

... Oh. He drew in a long breath. How to answer and yet not really answer? It was a fair question! 

"Honestly? Honestly, Chall, I don't think I have the clearance to actually _know_ the answer to that one. Veda saw something in you that told it that you'd be a good match for Plutone, and that's good enough for me. 

"If I had to take a stab at it, though, it's your caution. I've noticed that you hesitate -- like right in this conversation -- and that's a _good_ thing for Plutone's Meister. It means you're not so likely to trigger his particle systems with some kind of hair-trigger."

Chall's face clouded; she crossed her arms, looking anywhere but at Ruido.

"That's not what happened in my test in the Astraea."

"Bah, nerves, that's all that was. Everyone gets to screw up sometime, trust me. You'll be fine, and Plutone'll be fine, and you'll be a good Meister. You'll see. Now come on, let's get this finished so I can clean up and get food in me before I start work on your leggy friend over there."

All the impromptu cheerleading must have made the impression he'd hoped for; Chall set to work with a right good will this time, and inside an hour the rest of the day's repair-cum-lesson was over and done with. But even so Chall was all too eager to be done and back to anything that wasn't greasemonkeying -- and only noticed that Ruido wasn't moving when she was hanging from the cockpit hatch and ready to launch herself towards the catwalk. She looked back at him, puzzled.

"Aren't you coming ...?"

He shook his head, smiling sheepishly and waving her along.

"Oh, I'm coming, I just need to pour my brains out in a few logs first. Go on and find food, I'll be right behind you."

Chall didn't bother arguing (yay), but the look she shot him before kicking away suggested he'd better make good on his word. He had every intention to, though, so he wasn't worried -- he was more concerned with the cavalcade of light and pithy phrasing already starting to show on Astraea's consoles. Then she was off on the catwalk, disappearing through the doors, and --

_[She's improving already. If you want my opinion, that is.]_

The quiet tenor filled the cockpit, and Ruido chuckled wryly.

"How long have you been dying to speak up, hey?"

_[Oh, since she fumbled her tools and tried not to look like she'd rather eat them than retrieve them.]_

"Might've known. But you approve, do you?"

_[I always have, or I wouldn't have pointed out her worries, or her crush on you.]_

"She'll never forgive you if she finds out, you know."

_[Then it's a good thing that you're the only one we're permitted to communicate with, isn't it.]_

Now the sigh Ruido heaved was heartfelt, and guilt-ridden.

"That's not how I'd put it, but ... eh, whatever. We do what we have to. What's Plutone think of her?"

_[He wants to help her, but he's concerned about his shortcomings and isn't convinced that he won't frighten her by accident. Some things just don't change, Ruido.]_

"We'll make 'em change. Now lets get this log done before Veda starts barking or Chall comes nosing back again."

_[Of course.]_

Secrets piled on secrets. It was a dirty thing to pull on a teenager, really. But Ruido felt Chall was ready -- and strong enough -- to succeed, and right then? 

That was all that mattered.


End file.
